Literature | The Hanslick Girls

November 19, 2018

Joy Of The Chase: E.L. Konigsburg’s “From The Mixed-Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler”

The cover image, with the two photographed children standing at the steps of a pen drawing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was too iconic to be mistaken for any other. Dania’s heart skipped to see it in Gwen’s hands.

“The Mixed-Up Files” had been a formative book for Dania –– a testament to the power of art and history, the need to let facts affect you rather than simply accumulate in your mind. Since first reading Konigsburg’s book as a child, Dania had returned to it periodically. Each pass through Claudia and Jamie’s tale provided more details, including humor at the comparatively cheap prices in the New York of the 1960s.

November 5, 2018

And Everything Nice: Dana Simpson’s “Phoebe And Her Unicorn in The Magic Storm”

Normally, Gwen’s parents would hire a babysitter to take care of Hazel when they wanted to go out. But things had come up suddenly, and they knew that Gwen would be home at her apartment that evening. Besides, Eleanor and Dania had always expressed a fondness for Gwen’s younger sister –– “more than Gwen, sometimes,” her mother had joked.

It was for this reason that Hazel found herself standing in the living room of Gwen’s apartment, wrapped up in her thermal coat and scarf, with a backpack full of activities.

“Hey Hazel!” Dania said, jumping up from the couch. “How have you been!”

“Doin’ good,” Hazel said. She shuffled into the room, with Gwen close behind her.

October 22, 2018

Leave It Unsaid: Keri Hulme’s “The Bone People”

“I thought it was sort of hard to follow,” Dania said, sitting down into the couch with her dogeared copy of The Bone People.

“What, because she doesn’t use quotation marks for spoken dialogue?” Eleanor asked.

“Well, that’s part of it, obviously,” Dania said. “But it’s also, like, she changes who’s talking mid-sentence half the time. The book is super atmospheric –– Gwen, I bet you just loved it, right?”

Gwen smiled, shielding her grin with a contemplative hand. “We’ll get to my thoughts.”

August 20, 2018

Shake The World: Jon M Chu’s “Crazy Rich Asians”

“I love this!” Dania said, pointing at the kaleidoscopic credits sequence that twirled across the screen. “All the animated stuff in the movie was really good.”

“Was there a lot of animated stuff?” Gwen asked.

“The phone sequence!” Eleanor said. “With everyone sending texts about Rachel. That was filmed fantastically. Such a good use of the medium. And the cut back to Rachel and Nick in the bar is perfect!”

“Oh, that’s how you spell Awkwafina,” Dania said, as the actress’ name flashed onto the screen.

Category / Literature